Diverse technologies are typical for lubricating surfaces of moving parts of such a machine which are endangered by friction wear. In order to lubricate gearwheels which mesh with one another, it is sufficient if one of these gearwheels immerses at least a part of its circumference in a lubricating oil reservoir. Lubricating oil entrained upon immersion is distributed over the entire circumference of the immersed wheel and also the circumference of a wheel meshing therewith. Oil which is spun off of these wheels forms a mist in the interior of the machine, which is deposited on other gearwheels and thus ensures their lubrication. Surfaces of bearings moving against one another are generally not suitable for such immersion or spray mist lubrication because of their protected placement. In order to lubricate such a bearing, providing a shaft extending through the bearing with a lubricant duct, which extends along the shaft and from which spur holes extend to the bearing, in order to flush through the bearing using lubricating oil, is known from DE 33 20 086 C2, for example. An outlet opening is formed on one end of the shaft, via which the oil returns into the reservoir.
If a machine according to this prior art has still further lubrication points that are not situated around the shaft, these must be supplied with lubricant independently of the lubrication points of the shaft, or branching lines must lead from a common lubricant source to the lubricant duct of the shaft and the other lubrication points. Both solutions result in a significant space requirement for the lubricant circuit, and the necessity of providing supply lines for the lubrication points makes placing the remaining components of the machine more difficult.
In view of the foregoing, at least on object is to specify a machine that allows even poorly accessible lubrication points to be supplied with lubricant via a compact system of supply lines, which causes little obstruction of the placement of other machine components. In addition, other objects, desirable features and characteristics will become apparent from the subsequent summary and detailed description, and the appended claims, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings and this background.